Spoiler Alert!--This essay contains information you may not want to know until after you have read David Gemmell's Druss novels.

One of the hardest things to do when beginning to write a fantasy story is the construction of a believable world to set it in. Generally, I've found that the most believable worlds are those that have a firm basis in our own "real" world. Fantasy writer Robert E. Howard's Hyborian Age saga of Conan the Cimmerian had its basis in our world's prehistory. He skillfully used the names of countries and cities from our distant past to make his Hyborian Age seem more "real" to the reader. Charles R. Saunder's Imaro of Nyumbani saga used the names of historical Africa in much the same way. This helps the readers of the stories to "suspend their disbelief" and adds strength to the story, since they can better relate to what they are reading.

David Gemmell did something similar to this while writing his Drenai saga, but he did it with much more subtlety and style. David has stated on occasion that he is a great fan of military history, having studied over 2,000 historical battles. He takes elements of "real" world history and deftly alters them to fit his fantasy story, thus making the story feel more "real" in the minds of the reader. These elements take the form of similarities in place, events, and characters. In the stories of Druss the Axe we find his knowledge of military history gives them an immediacy that is often lacking in the battle scenes in other fantasy stories.

Druss is an indomitable character, an axe-man so ferocious in combat that no one can stand before him. His exploits make him quite the legend in his own time. Druss often fights in battles that could be termed "lost causes". And David Gemmell crafts the legend of Druss the Axe using elements of two famous "real" world "lost causes", the Texican defeat at the Alamo and the Spartan defeat at Thermopylae.

Druss's first appearance was in the novel LEGEND, published in 1984. The story concerns the siege of a great fortress called Dros Delnoch by the Nadir forces of Ulric Khan. The fortress is considered a "lost cause" as the defenders are outnumbered nearly fifty to one.

David crafts LEGEND using elements of the Texican defense at the Alamo. The similarities between the Dros Delnoch/Alamo sieges are very light on the place and event type. Other than the generic "fortress surrounded by a sea of enemies" the only specific similarity is the destruction of the housing surrounding the fort to provide a killing ground for the ranged weapons.

The greatest amount of similarities exists in the form of character. This is the part that I'm most impressed with as it appears (to me anyway) that David Gemmell divided the main attributes of the various participants in the Alamo and distributed them between the major characters in LEGEND.

Davy Crockett: The aging frontier legend aspect was given to Druss. The buckskin-wearing leader of a group of riflemen called the "Tennessee Volunteers" aspect was given to Bowman, leader of a group of archers.

Jim Bowie: The charismatic fighter with the unique weapon (the Bowie Knife) was given to Druss with his unique weapon (Snaga). The aspect of Bowie on his deathbed of tuberculosis was divided between Earl Delnar and later the gangrene riddled Druss.

William Travis: The inexperienced and overwhelmed leader of the Texicans who, due to some division amidst the Alamo's defenders as to who should command them, nearly lost his command to Jim Bowie. Eventually they settled on Bowie commanding the volunteers and Travis commanding the regulars. This shows up in the scene with Druss and Orrin when they settle on Druss preparing the defense and training and Orrin in charge of everything else. All of this along with the courage Travis shows fighting upon the walls of the fortress seems to make Travis a pretty good fit as Gan Orrin.

Sam Houston: The leader of the Texican army is off raising and training the troops and can't send men to the Alamo. This is pretty much the same thing Magnus Woundweaver was doing.

I can find nobody in the Alamo history that corresponds to Rek or Virae.

One final note on LEGEND; there seems to be (to me at least) a bit of wish fulfillment in the scene where Druss leaves his deathbed to die on his feet in battle. While it would have been wonderful to see Jim Bowie do the same thing, the actuality was that he was bayoneted to death in his bed. It appears reality pays no attention to art....

The next book about the exploits of Druss is THE FIRST CHRONICLE OF DRUSS THE LEGEND, published in 1993. For the most part, the book is about Druss's seven-year search for his kidnapped wife. The story is a first-rate example of heroic fantasy and an excellent character study. The part of the book that I will concentrate on is the final section, DRUSS THE LEGEND. Originally a short story published separately, DRUSS THE LEGEND concerns his legendary battle at Skeln Pass. Skeln Pass is a battle in which a small number of Drenai heroes battle a Ventrian Army that far outnumbers them and beat the odds by lasting ten days, finally refusing to surrender when all appears lost.

David crafts DRUSS THE LEGEND using elements of the Spartan defense against Xerxes' Persians at the Battle of Thermopylae. In this story David seems to be using a somewhat less subtle approach in adapting the battle to suit his story. The Thermopylae/Skeln Pass similarities are mostly of the type concerning place and events and are a delight to note.

• The small Drenai force is opposed by an army of thousands of Ventrians / the small Spartan force is opposed by an army of thousands of Persians.
• The setting of Skeln Pass is a narrow mountain pass overlooking the sea / the setting of Thermopylae is a narrow mountain pass overlooking the sea.
• Ventrian emperor Gorben's elite handpicked unit of bodyguards is called "The Immortals" / Persian emperor Xerxes elite handpicked unit of bodyguards is called "The Immortals".
• The Ventrian invasion of Drenai was begun from its capital of Usa / the Persian invasion of Hellas (Greece) was begun from its capital of Susa.
• There were 300 Drenai fighters opposing the Immortals on the final day of the battle / there were 300 Spartans opposing the Immortals at the battle.
• A small group of Drenai raided into the Ventrian camp in an attempt to assassinate Emperor Gorben, but ultimately failed / a small group of Spartans raided into the Persian camp in an attempt to assassinate Emperor Xerxes, but ultimately failed.

Of course the ending of the battles are entirely different, as all the heroism pays off in that Druss and the Drenai barely win the day, while the Spartans definitely lost the battle of Thermopylae. It is interesting to note that while Druss secured his legend, he lost all his friends and family during the course of the battle. I guess no good deed goes unpunished…

The third and most recent book about the exploits of Druss is THE LEGEND OF DEATHWALKER, published in 1996. The book is about how a Nadir warrior named Talisman started on the road to becoming the Great Khan of the Nadir and Druss's role in it. Druss begins the adventure attempting to discover the whereabouts of some healing jewels and gets embroiled in a Gothir war against the Nadir.

Once again, David crafts THE LEGEND OF DEATHWALKER using elements of the Texican defense at the Alamo. This time the similarities are minimal, with David using the idea of a fortified mission (the Alamo) being defended by a small group of heroes, as Druss and the Nadir try to defend the fortified shrine of Oshikai Demon Bane against a Gothir army determined to exterminate them. The battle is also seen as the catalyst in the embryonic formation of a new nation/state (Nadir Empire/Texas)

In this story, as in the Battle at Skeln Pass, the ending of the battle is different from "real" life in that the Nadir barely win, while the defenders of the Alamo fell in ninety minutes. Of course there were only about 2,000 Gothir attackers, while Santa Ana deployed at least 4,000 men against the Texicans.

Finally, after completing the research that comprised the Drenai Gazetteer, I think I have a pretty good idea of which historical nations some of the Saga's races are modeled on, although a few are somewhat vague.

Drenai - western Europeans (Great Britain, France, western Germany)

Vagria - eastern Europeans (Slavonic races?)

Mashrapur - Islamic Spain

Lentria - southwestern Europeans (Italy, Spain)

Gothir - northeastern Europeans (eastern Germany, Scandinavia, northeastern Russia)

Nadir - Mongol/Turks

Chiatze - China

Kiatze - mixed Japanese/Korean

Sathuli - Bedouin Arabs

Ventria - Persian Empires/Abbasid Caliphate

Opal - sub-equatorial Africa (Pagan seems to be modeled on a Zulu warrior)

Understand that in no way do I feel that the use of elements of history in David Gemmell's Drenai Saga in any way diminishes the emotional power of the stories themselves. This is simply an interesting intellectual exercise in attempting to uncover the "bones" that lie beneath the surface of each story.